Geochemical prospecting



Patented May 14, 1946 PATENT oFFicE' GEOCHEMICAL mosrnc'rmo Leo Horvits, Houston, Tex.

so Drawing. Applicaflonlnly 20, 1942, Serial No. 451.034

4 Claims. (Cl. 23-230) The present invention relates to a process of geochemical prospecting.

-More specifically, the present invention relates to geochemical prospecting for carbonaceous deposits, such asoil, gas, coal and the like, and for structures in, which such deposits may occur by the quantitative detection of leakage from the deposits themselves and from the rocks in which they are contained. Such leakage results in a deposition in the soil of evidence of the leakage lo and such evidence may be detected and measured by analysis of the soil. This invention relates to -the broad subject matter of application Serial No. 107,497,.filed October 24, 1936, and entitled Geophysical prospecting method.

An object of thepresent invention is to provide a method of geochemical prospecting for buried str ucture capable of containing valuable deposits by the. examination of surface and near surface $0115 for evidence therein of anomalous minerali zation and secondary salt deposition.

is to provide a method of geochemical prospecting by. the analysis of soil samples collected at spaced intervals over an area to be explored .for one or more of the class of alkaline-earth metals.

Usually, the halo phenomenon originally observed in connection with analyses for the content of the lighter hydrocarbons and described in a paper by E. E. Rosaire, entitledfishallow stratigraphic prospecting over Gulf Coast structure, Geophysics, HI, 2, Marchl938, is also observable in the technique of the present invention.

Generally, it has been found that the consistency of results is better in samples of soil taken so amoral nature.

at a depth of several feet since topsoil samples are 1 affected by leaching by meteoric waters, local fertilization, and the like. A compromise between the economy demanded. by a reconnaissance possible.

at the same depth over a given area where this is In some areas where there are outcroppings of rock or other natural impediments it often happens that the sampling depth selected cannot be continued throughout the whole area. -For example, where samples are taken at eight feet at the start, it might develop later that in some certain spot it is only possible to penetrate six feet. In such cases it is preferred to take the majority of samples at the depth originally selected and take the remaining samples at as great a depth as they can be obtained. Inany case, the depth at which each sample is taken is noted on the sample container for the information of the 1s interpreter.

, The practice is often followed of determining the variation with depth of the significant constituent in the sample hole ;at selected points along a profile. "For example; in scattered holes 20 in the area under investigation, samples are taken at one or two foot intervals in the sample hole so as to determine the variation of the significant constituent with depth. Then if all the deep 1 samples over the area cannot be secured at the 5 selected depth, say 12 feet, the depth determina- ,tions will aid the operator in deciding at what depth less than 12 feet he can safely take samples where they cannot be obtained at 12 feet.

Where there is already a producing well in an 80 area under investigation it is advantageous to make depth determinations in each sample hole along a profile passing through the well. In this way the best depth at which to collect samples in the other profiles over the area in order to 35 outline the-field can be determined.

Where there is-not excessive dipping of. the formations it leads to uniformity to collect the samples out of the same formation so that the samples will have. as nearly as possible, the same Ordinarily strata near the surface have such a small dip that collection of the at auniform depth will resultin collection of the samples in the same stratum. should I it transpire that, where the samples" are being method and the reasonable accuracy demanded analysed for a constituent, such as calcium, and

by any exploration method indicates that a preferred form of the invention is practiced by the collection of samples from a depth of about ten feet, though, of course, the depth may be varied during the collection of the samples a deposit high in calcium, such as limestone, is encountercd, the operator will naturally take this into account and the large increase in the, calcium depending upon general conditions of climate, 'lo' ontent in samples taken in this deposit will be nature of soil. vegetation and agricultural utilisation. It will be understood thotall samples in a given area should preferably be collected at the same dept taken into consideration in the interpretationof theresults.

The constituent selected a determination will occur as a minor constituent of the soil and may be present only in minute amounts. In some areas, however. the constituentselected as the significant constituent may constitute a very substantial portion of the soil sample. For example, in one area. in which the samples were collected from calich deposits and the variations in acid-soluble constituents, largeter-insoluble, the conventional treatment of the samples will involve extraction thereof with a dilute acid capable of dissolving salts of alkalineearth metals or, to put it in another way, acids which form water-soluble salts with alkalineearth metals. The extract so obtained is then analyzed by well known methods for the alkalineearth metal or metals relied upon as indicators. The alkaline-earth metal most commonly relied upon is calcium, but in areas where there are large outcroppings of limestone it may be preferable to examine the samples for an alkalineearth metal which is not a predominant constituent' thereof.

The usefulness of this method has been demonstrated in practicein that when exploration has been conducted in areas also explored by other methods, the method was found to give information similar to that obtained by other methods. It is not intended to imply that it gives substantially the same information in all cases I as geochemical exploration by analysis of soil samplesfor, say, ethane. The patterns resulting from the method of the present invention thus far bear a similarity to those resulting from the hydrocarbon technique.

Naturally, the results of the method of the present invention leave something to the judgment of the interpreter. Should the interpreter find that a particular inorganic constituent runs low for a large number of samples and then suddenly increases to ahigh level, which is also maintained for a large number of samples, he

will investigate to determine the nature of theformations front which the samples were pro cured. Likewise, when the interpreter finds a single high sample among a. group of low samples, he will investigate the circumstances to determine what si nificance, if any, should be given to this single indication.

7 As in established geophysical practice, where, for example, gravitational and magnetic data are used to determine the economic feasibility of furmethod which measures the direct leakage products for the ought deposits.

while the method of prospecting herein disclosed can be used as the basis for a drilling program, it appears to best advantage when used as a basis for additional prospecting before drilling. These economic factors are expressed in a paper by E. E. Rosaire entitled Tactics and strategy of exploration forpetroleum, III, Geophysics, IV, 3, July, 1939. pp. 155-166. Thus one species of the invention comprises prospecting over a region by the disclosed method, determining the areas which may economically be exploited by a prospecting method of higher resolving power, and

further exploring the thuslimited areas by such methods of higher resolving power.

The methods of higher resolving power include the seismic which under favorable conditions is capable ofdelineating structure favorable to the accumulation of oil and gas and the soil analysis method of'ap'plication Serial No. 103,129, which is generally applicable to the problem of determining the existence and the real extent of such accumulations. The gravimetric, magnetometric, resistivity methods and the like do not fall in the class of methods of higher resolving power as they are generally conceded to be reconnaissance methods incapable of accurate and detailed structural analysis. Therefore, the term method of higher resolving power," as used in this specification, is limited to the seismic method and the above mentioned soil analysis method with any improvement thereon.

As this invention is a surface method andcontemplates surface methods of higher resolving power, prospecting with the drill, as by core drillther work by seismic or other more expensive methods, the present invention offers an inexyielding a basis for economic exploitation with more expensive methods,'like' the seismic which measures the structure directly, or a geochemical ing, is excluded from the definition of the term method of higher resolving power."

This application is a continuation in part of my copending application Ser. No. 382,606, filed March 10, 1941. and entitled Geochemical prospecting, which in turn was a continuation in part of my application Ber. No. 304,141. filed Novemas new and useful and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: v v

1. A method of geochemical exploration'for .subterranean petroliferous deposits which comprises collecting samples of soil at spaced points in the area to be investigated at a depth several feet below the surface, said depth being sumcient to eliminate the effect of surface conditions, sub- ,iecting the individual samples to an analysis for the determination of the content thereof of a selected alkaline-earth metal and correlating the values determined with sample location whereby the contents of the selected metal in the several samples may be compared for the purpose of identifying anomalously high concentrations thereof.

2. A method according to claim 1 in which the sample locations are laterally spaced from each other. 1

3. A method according to claim 1 in which the :antiples are collected at a depth of'ai; least 10 4. A method according to claim 1 in which the sample locations are laterally spaced from each other and the samples are collected at a sub- 

